


Surrogate

by Hellokaelyn



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: s16e15 Crossing the Line
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 03:19:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18002825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: Ellie comes knocking on Nick's door to find three teenagers in his apartment.





	Surrogate

**Author's Note:**

> Finally writing a post-episode fic!!

Ellie frowned in confusion as she stood outside Nick’s door. She tilted her head a little as she listened to the sounds of a video game she had heard her brothers play before, and the sounds of..kids, teens? Ellie had no clue but it was far from normal considering who’s apartment she was standing outside of.

Nick had seemed...different since he came back from his ‘personal’ day three months ago. One thing that stood out to her was how much more free and lighter Nick was, it wasn’t noticeable unless you  _ really _ knew him like she did. Another was how they didn’t hang out as much which is what bothered her and brought her to his door. Usually they spend one day a week at least hanging out, usually a weekend day, but the most they’ve spent time together in the last three months were nights out with the team which never lasted long when two of them had kids and wives to get home to, or trips to the coffee shop for a quick chat over coffee before or after work. There had been no movies or tv show marathon nights, no all you can eat take-out nights, no goat yoga, no going to the gym together, no going for runs, no painting nights (where it was mostly just Nick watching her paint). Nothing.

She had thought about asking him if he wanted to do something today, Saturday, but instead decided to show up at his door and see  _ why _ . 

It didn’t take long for Nick to answer the door when she finally got the courage to knock.

“Ellie?” He asked in surprise, it was rare for her to randomly show up at his door, that was more his thing. “What’re you doing here?”

Ellie opened her mouth to answer when there were three voices shouting from around the corner where she knew his living room was.

“Aw c’mon Max! I totally had that!”

Laughter followed. “Dude you  _ suck _ , you were hiding in the corner like a wimp!”

Ellie finally raised an eyebrow at Nick when a girl’s voice pitched in.

“You  _ both _ suck! How about this  _ girl _ shows you boys how it’s done?” 

Groaning came from the two boys she heard.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish look as he let her inside.

They said nothing as Ellie followed behind him to the living room. 

It was an odd sight to see in his apartment. 

Three teens were spread out on a bunch of pillows and blankets on the floor instead of sitting on the couch right behind them, scattered around them were all sorts of junk food and soda along with empty pizza boxes stacked off to the side. Two boys were sprawled out on pillows while a girl was between them, leaning against one of the boys.

Nick grabbed the remote and turned down the blasting volume a little making all teens snap their heads in their direction. 

“Hey you’re Agent Bishop, right?!” The girl said with a grin, the teens all exchanged a look and soon the boys were grinning too.

Ellie opened her mouth and closed it, blinking a little in confusion. “Uh yeah..”

“Nick has a picture of you in his desk!” 

“Max!” Nick snapped with a groan. 

Ellie looked at him to see a barely seen blush on his tan skin, making her having to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning. 

Max snickered along with the other two. 

“Okay..so you three know who I am..but I have no idea who you are.” Ellie said slowly, looking between them and Nick who was shifting uncomfortably much to her amusement.

“Uh-” Nick cleared his throat. “Remember when I got stuck mentoring some teenagers? Well uh this is them.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait- didn’t you hate mentoring them-” She quickly turned to them “No offense.” Then turned back to Nick. “And that was three months ago-” 

He shrugged. “We’ve kept in touch, it wasn’t so bad in the end.”

“Yeah after he got his head out of his ass.”

The girl gave the boy, Max, a smack to the stomach. 

“Be nice!” 

The other boy grinned. “Yeah Max. be nice!”

“Shut up Blake.” Max said with a glare. 

Blake only chuckled, it seemed it was a normal thing with Max.

Nick gave Max the finger making Ellie roll her eyes. 

“This troublemaker is Max, and then Blake and Hayley.” 

“Hi!” Hayley said with a wide smile. She had a feeling the teenage girl smiled  _ a lot _ . “So you’re the agent who was on the ship the whole time we were at NCIS.”

Ellie nodded. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t get to meet you guys then.” 

“Hey uh- I’m gonna go talk to Ellie, you guys-” Nick said with a pointed glare. “Behave.”

It didn’t escape her notice that the stare was mainly at Max who winked and turned back to the game.

Nick put his hand on her back and led her to the kitchen where she right away lifted herself onto one of the counters. Nick went into the fridge and grabbed her a soda. Ellie lifted her eyebrows at the fact it wasn’t a beer like usual.

He cleared his throat not looking at her. “They uh- stay here for a night during the weekend sometimes, I make sure there’s no beer when they do.”

She stared at him in shock. He willingly let three teenagers sleep at his place? 

“Nick what the hell happened?” She said with a small laugh. “You hated them remember? They drove you crazy! And suddenly you take a personal day after and now you have three teenage friends?”

“Please!” They jumped at Max’s sudden voice who had apparently came to grab more soda. He was smirking. “Nick is too  _ old _ to be our friend-” Nick once again gave him the finger making Max chuckle. “Our parents like to joke he’s like our surrogate dad.” 

Ellie didn’t miss the look shared between the two that you wouldn’t have noticed if you weren’t looking. 

Nick turned his head to try and hide his small smile. 

Max gave a salute before he left the kitchen, Blake and Hayley cheering unnecessarily about him bringing them more soda. 

“Um..their parents? Surrogate dad?” Ellie was baffled. “What have you done with Nick Torres?”

He huffed out a laugh, words came pouring out as he told her all of it. How he was a jerk to them making them do things for him like his taxes (she hit him for that one), tried making others look after them, the whole thing with Max, the talk with Max, the tour he gave them, and finally how he took them out to eat after. 

Ellie felt her heart ache for Max, and Nick. She knew his dad was a sore subject even when he only talked about it once and never again, honestly if she ever saw Enrique Cartaya, she’d give him a good kick in the balls.

“I gave them my number before dropping them off, told them to call if they ever needed anything, and instead I get texts from all three of them about the most random things which led to well- this.”

Ellie laughed. “That’s what you get for giving your number to teenagers.” She teased. “The parents thing? I mean I know they wouldn’t let their kids just stay with anyone-”

“Yeah, apparently even though the three of them are at different schools they kept in contact too and became good friends. Hayley was having a birthday party and invited me..I decided to go figuring I still had to make it up to her for the way I acted, all their parents were there and suddenly I have three teenagers having a sleepover almost every weekend at my apartment.”

“Which is why we haven’t been hanging out.” Ellie said. “You’ve been spending time with them.”

She couldn’t help first the heart melting that he cared about them (and she didn’t miss the fond look he gave them), then the feeling of relief that the thought of Nick having a girlfriend that came to her mind proved to not be true.

Nick nodded. “Sorry, I know I should have said something but..it was kind of nice just..having this to myself.”

Ellie didn’t feel any hurt that he didn’t tell her, if anything she felt proud of him for letting those kids in when he barely let the team in (the exception being her of course). She slid off the counter and moved to stand in front of him. 

“It’s fine Nick, honestly.” She smiled, biting her lip a little. “But just..one thing.”

“What’s that?” His eyes drifted to her lips. 

“You have a picture of me in your desk?”

Nick huffed. “I’m gonna kill that kid one day.”

Ellie laughed and moved closer, only inches between them. “What picture of me?”

His lips twitched upwards. “I took a picture of you painting. You were so into it that you didn’t notice, you had this little smile on your face-”

They both started leaning in, looking into each other’s eyes as they did. Her heart was racing wildly in her chest.

“Nick!” Hayley whined from the other room. “Blake stole my twizzlers!” 

“What?! I did  _ not _ !” 

Nick groaned, his forehead against hers. 

Ellie giggled, grabbing his hand to lead him back into the living room. “Come on,  _ dad _ . Your kids are calling.”

He glared at her which only made her laugh more.

All three teens stared at their joined hands with smirks and or grins. 

Ellie moved to pull her hand away but Nick only gripped it tighter. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling like a crazy person. 

He didn’t react to their knowing looks, Ellie had a feeling these kids heard a lot about her from Nick which she loved the thought of. 

As they settled onto the couch, the teens shutting off the game to put in a movie, Ellie leaned against Nick. Two hours later when they finally crashed from the sugar overload, she looked over at Nick to see his head resting against the back of the couch fast asleep. Ellie grinned and snuggled into his chest, his arms automatically wrapping around her tightly in his sleep. 

After that night, Ellie was invited whenever Nick had the three teenagers. They had jokingly started calling her and Nick ‘mom and dad’ sometimes, but neither of them minded as they both grew to love Max, Hayley, and Blake. 

Seven years later they were grinning like proud parents (and a little teary) as they watched newly married Hayley and Blake dance at their reception, laughing with Max who was dancing beside them with his own fiancée (ironically enough a girl from Ellie’s own hometown in Oklahoma). 

It was a running joke that instead of Nick and Ellie having two kids, they really had five.

But Nick and Ellie loved all their kids the same. 


End file.
